There was commotion at the hearing of the presidential election petition tribunal sitting on Wednesday as officials of the Apapa and Abure factions of the Labour Party clashed over who should make appearance for the party.
The commotion started when the matter was called and Peter Obi stood up to announce his appearance. His announcement was followed by that of the National Women’s Leader of the Party, Dudu Manuga who announced herself as the party’s representative.
After Manuga had made her announcement as the representative of the party, the party’s acting chairman Lamidi Apapa swiftly stood up to announce his presence as the party’s representative.
A shouting contest soon ensued between both factions over who should be recognized as the representative of the party by the court to the disappointment of the judges and the court.
Noticing the ugly development, the tribunal refused to recognise any representative of the party apart from the party’s presidential candidate and first petitioner, Peter Obi.
They adjourned the sitting to Friday, May 19, 2023 to continue the pre-hearing of the petition against the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.
The shouting contest witnessed inside the courtroom soon descended into a full blown chaos outside the courtroom as Lamidi Apapa had to be whisked away by men of the Nigerian police force to avoid further breakdown of law and order from both factions of the party.
